Stephanie Gridley

Abusing His Grace Stephanie Gridley

To Dean Hardaway, a man of many secrets, image is everything, and he will do whatever it takes to protect and promote his own, even at the expense of his hapless wife, Grace. And if she fails to fall in line, she pays the price--dearly. Having weathered difficult adolescent years after the death of her parents, Grace longs for security, stability, and love. She thinks she has found it in former Marine Dean Hardaway. After a short courtship the two marry, and only then are Dean's true colors revealed. While members of their church and close friends believe the Hardaways have the perfect family--Dean is employed at a highly profitable technology enterprise while Grace maintains their home and cares for their five daughters--no one has a clue that Dean actively terrorizes his children, abuses his wife and is engaged in a torrid affair with Angelica Billups, a beautiful, mysterious woman who has appeared from nowhere. The decline of the Hardaways' marriage is presented against the backdrop of the Baptist Christian church--namely Christ First Community Church, where the Hardaways have been members for over a decade. The goings-on at this dysfunctional church play a major role in the dynamics of the Hardaways' marriage, and despite questionable advice from their philandering pastor Grace clings to her Christian faith and prays for deliverance from her misery. When she finally gets it, it comes from the last person she'd ever expected, and in a far more violent manner than she ever could have imagined